Cervical collars are well-known. See U.S. Pat. No. 3,756,226 dated Sept. 4, 1973. The collar disclosed in said patent is comprised of body halves removably coupled together. At the center of the front half of the collar disclosed in said patent, there is provided a rigid reinforcing support member directly opposite a person's trachea. Hence, in the event that an emergency tracheotomy is called for, there is no way to have access to the trachea without removing the front half of the collar.
The present invention is directed to a solution of the problem of how to provide a cervical collar which provides sufficient support so as to restrict the cervical region of a patient at the scene of an accident without hyperextension of the neck and permits a tracheotomy without otherwise interfering with the provision of rigid reinforcing members on the collar halves.